I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to decoys for water fowl and more particularly to decoys having body portions of wind sock construction which suggest the appearance of a body of water fowl.
II. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,141 to Shjeflo dated Dec. 13, 1977 teaches a decoy for water fowl such as goose or duck which has a head and neck portion made of rigid material and a hoop member. The head and neck are fixed to a spike inserted into the ground with the hoop portion rotatable on the spike about a generally vertical axis with the hoop maintaining its opening in the generally vertical plane. A flexible bag of wind sock construction is mounted on the hoop with an opening of the bag secured to the hoop and maintained in an open condition. The bag is so constructed that when wind enters the opening and fills the bag, the bag has the appearance of the body of a water fowl with a flared out center portion given the appearance of folded wings and a tapered rearward portion giving the appearance of the tail of the water fowl. As wind changes in direction, the bag and hoop pivot on the spike such that the hoop opening constantly faces the wind direction.
Decoys such as those described in the above referenced U.S. patent have enjoyed substantial success. The decoys are deployed in number near hunting grounds to attract water fowl. Due to the fluttering of the bag as air pressure varies through the bag, the fluttering together with the contour and markings of the decoy provides for a more lifelike decoy when compared to static decoys. Also, the wind sock construction decoys have also proven to be very popular as lawn ornaments.
Notwithstanding the tremendous success enjoyed by decoys as described above, such decoys do possess certain inherent problems. For example, although the bags do not require a tremendous amount of wind in order to inflate the bag to give the appearance of a water fowl, some wind is, of course, required. Accordingly, the usefulness of the bag is dependent upon uncontrolled variables such as wind. This is particularly troublesome where the decoys are used as lawn ornaments where they are typically placed in wind protected areas such as back yards and other enclosed areas.
Another problem associated with such prior art decoys is the bag often rubs on the ground. This is particularly true when the bag is subjected to varying wind velocities and varying wind directions. As a result, the bag can wear through which damages the wind sock construction and defeats its purpose. Also, such bags are known to wrap around the stake supporting the wind sock above the ground much like a flag wraps around its flag pole. When this occurs, the wind sock is totally useless for its intended purpose in that it cannot fill with air to obtain a shape suggesting the appearance of a water fowl. And finally, while the wind sock may vary its direction to accommodate for directions in the wind, the head and neck of the decoy remain stationary such that the head of the water fowl could be facing the same direction as the tail of the water fowl. Particularly with a number of decoys arranged either to attract water fowl or for lawn decoration purposes, such an arrangement is unrealistic and detracts from the realism attempted to be achieved by this apparatus.